Cathedral bests Madelia

Staff photo by Ari Selvey
Madelia’s Tate Becker dives back to first as Cathedral’s Logan Mielke covers the base during a nonconference baseball game at Watona Park on Monday.

MADELIA — Some games come down to who can make the last play.

That was certainly the case in a nonconference baseball matchup between New Ulm Cathedral and Madelia on Monday, and it was the Greyhounds that came away with the 4-3 win at Watona Park.

“Madelia’s a really good baseball team,” Cathedral head coach Alan Woitas said. “They got as good a shot as anybody to win the Section 2A Tournament that starts Thursday. They’ve got some nice pitchers and they made some good plays. But a couple of key plays — Logan Mielke with a two-strike double, he’s down in the count and battled, puts the ball down the right field line and scores two runs. Then Colin Anderson’s play in the top of the seventh to get the first out of the inning was so important. That’s an above-average baseball play that you need to make to win these kinds of games.”

Mielke had three total RBIs on the day to go with his double, while Caleb Forstner was 2 for 3 with two stolen bases and Jake Finstad had three runs scored. Anderson got the win, striking out two and allowing three runs on four hits in five innings. Finstad got the save, striking out three in two perfect innings.

Tate Becker took the loss for Madelia, striking out 10 while allowing three earned runs on four hits and three walks. At the plate, Evan Coil was 1 for 2 with a run scored and Becker was 1 for 3 with a run scored.

Cathedral got the scoring started in the first as Finstad drew a walk, stole second and advanced to third on an error before Mielke’s groundout brought him home. The lead was short-lived, however, as Anderson hit four batters, split by a single by Coil, to score two runners.

Anderson and the Greyhounds bounced back quickly with a two-out double by Mielke to score Finstad and Alex Portner in the third. Becker tied the game up in the bottom of the inning, scoring on an error as both teams went scoreless in the fourth. Cathedral scored once more in the fifth, with Finstad coming home on an error, before Finstad and the Greyhound defense put together two perfect innings the close the game. This included a play by Anderson, moved to shortstop, to snag a grounder that reached the shallow outfield and throw out Noel Davila at first.

Cathedral (16-4) and Madelia (13-5) both await playoff seeding in the Section 2A Tournament on Thursday.

“To make a deep run, your pitchers are going to have to battle,” Woitas said. “You can’t be giving up free bases. So no walks, no hit by pitches. Then you have to play good defense behind them. If you can play clean baseball this time of year, you’re going to be in the game at the end, then you just have to find a way to put a few runs together. I think we’re capable of that, but a lot of teams are, so this will be a fun section to be a part of.”